1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for updating a media database in a portable terminal based on an Android Operating System (OS).
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a portable terminal refers to an electronic apparatus which performs communication and exchanges data while moving. With the diversification and development of mobile communication environments, the portable terminal is now expanding to fields other than voice communication.
Recent portable terminals, often called smart phones, provide various functions, which have not been provided in general portable phones (e.g., feature phones). Smart phones may be classified into portable terminals of iPhone series using Apple iOS® and portable terminals using Google Android® according to the Operating Systems (OSs) they use. The Android OS is an open platform provided by Google and the Open Handset Alliance (OHA). Adoption of the Android OS as a smart phone OS is increasing.
The Android smart phone generates and updates a media database for media files accessible by the portable terminal (e.g., stored in the portable terminal or in an external medium removable from the portable terminal), and a user may check predetermined media data from the media database to request use of the media data. For example, in the Android smart phone, media scanning is performed when metadata of media data is changed or media data is newly added or removed, and through media scanning, the media database may be generated or updated.
Updating the media database after generating the media database in the Android smart phone is referred to as media scanning Media scanning is performed by decoding metadata of media data accessible in a locale set in the Android smart phone at the time of the scanning (generation and updating of the database). For example, if media scanning is performed when the locale of the Android smart phone is set to English, media scanning (establishment and updating of the media database) is performed by decoding metadata of the media data according to a decoding scheme based on English.
Since the Android smart phone supports many languages and is used in various countries, the locale of the Android smart phone may be freely changed according to a user's request. However, in case of media scanning in the Android smart phone, when the user uses a media database after changing the locale, information about predetermined media data included in the media database may not be displayed normally. This is because media scanning in the Android smart phone is performed by decoding metadata of media data based on the local set at the time of media scanning.
For example, on the assumption that media scanning is performed for the locale set to English, and then media scanning is performed again due to addition of media data, and metadata of the added media data has been encoded in a third language (e.g., Japanese) other than English, even if the user changes the locale into the third language, media scanning in the Android smart phone is performed by decoding the metadata of the media data encoded in the third language other than English, such that when a media database updated by media scanning may display information of the added media data, the information may be distorted or may be displayed as unidentifiable characters.
Accordingly, there is a need to normally display information of media data through a media database by performing media scanning on the media data correspondingly if a locale setting of a portable terminal (e.g., an Android smart phone) is changed.